In many industries, particularly those involving heavy machinery, a variety of hoses, tubes, cables and pipes, which can generally be termed “lines”, are used for a variety of purposes. For instance, flexible lines, which generally include hoses, tubes or cables, may be used for transporting fluids or electricity. Flexible lines may also be used for hanging or supporting parts of a machine. For example, the forestry industry uses heavy machinery that requires hoses that contain hydraulic fluid for mechanically powering the machines, and electrical cables for electrically powering the machines. Other industries—such as plumbing, petrochemical, chemical, automotive, robotics, etc.—require flexible lines for transporting electricity or gas or liquid fluids.
Industrial environments can be gruelling, extreme and harsh. Not only does the industrial equipment include heavy, dynamic parts, but the surroundings of many industrial applications are rife with potentially destructive dangers. The weight, speed and chemical elements involved on many industrial sites give rise to hazards relating to equipment breakdown. In the forestry industry, for instance, the climate, the terrain and the closed-in areas impose difficult constraints on the cutting and removal of lumber.
The forestry environment thus requires equipment with high sophistication in order to efficiently perform a number of industrial operations. Productivity and operation costs are omnipresent issues and manufacturers are constantly motivated to develop products with higher performance and new innovation.
As an example in the forestry industry, the technology of feller-buncher machines provided with lateral inclination systems have been developed and enable considerable improvements relating to the amplitude of movements of cutting equipment. The feller-buncher heads (often called “harvesters”) enable a variety of impressive movements. These are just a few examples of equipment in the forestry industry that enable a better positioning and orientation about the trees that are either standing or have been cut, in order to reduce the circulation of the larger equipment within the cramped environment of the forest.
Flexible lines are constantly called upon in industry and are very important in the operation of large equipment and especially of equipment that is provided with a greater degree of dexterity. The demands on such flexible lines are growing, as is the need to prolong their working life. In fact, the working life of flexible lines is omnipresent for many industries and manufacturers. The maintenance required for tightening and replacing couplings and flexible lines is part of the daily grind of industries including that of forestry.
The prior art describes protective sleeves or reinforcements for covering, supporting and protecting single or clusters of flexible lines. A variety of such protective sleeves that wrap or shield a cluster of hoses, tubes or cables are available. More particularly, as will be discussed herebelow, 1) plastic spiral sleeves and 2) tubular sleeves are products that have been commercialized in order to regroup, envelop and protect flexible hydraulic lines. Another technique, called the 3) chain and bracelet technique, is also known in the art.
1) Plastic Spiral Sleeves
It has been found in the prior art that flexible hydraulic tubes can be grouped in a cluster and protected using a plastic spiral sleeve. For instance, feller-buncher machines may include clusters of flexible lines protected by plastic spiral sleeves.
FIG. 1 (PRIOR ART) shows a spiral sleeve (10) known in the prior are. Here, lines (12) are grouped into a line cluster (14), which is wrapped and protected by the plastic spiral sleeve (10). The lines (12) have not been installed in this illustration. This kind of sleeve is without question the most used product on the market. Such sleeves may be installed before or after installation of the hydraulic lines. Regrouping the lines can also be done in a manner to enable visibility for inspecting leaks in the lines. These plastic sleeves also give an aesthetic value to a cluster of hydraulic tubes, at least when originally installed.
The sleeve (10) defines a single spiralable band that wraps around the line or cluster of lines to offer protection. Plastic spiral sleeves are most commonly made of thermoplastic materials. Commercialized sleeves of this type include KOVERTEC™.
Such plastic spiral sleeves (10) installed on lines and line clusters may become unravelled, shifted and worn.
These plastic spiral sleeves suffer from a number of difficulties, problems and disadvantages, among which are the following:                Rigidity and difficulty of assemblage: The plastic material often presents properties causing it to become hard at low temperatures. For some applications at very low temperatures, the glass transition temperature of the plastic is too high to permit the sleeve to maintain the required flexibility. Assembling the single spirable band frequently presents difficulties.        Sensitive to temperature variation: Variations in temperature may cause the sleeve to rigidify or even, at extreme temperatures, rupture.        A low resistance to stretching: Thermoplastics may be stretched when a sufficient force is exerted on them. Stretching may lead to equipment damage, especially damage to the flexible lines covered by the plastic sleeve.        Permanent deformation: When a thermoplastic undergoes stretching past a certain point, it becomes permanently deformed and cannot regain its previous form. This is problematic when a tight fit to the lines is desired.        Absence of protection on the entire length of the tubes: It is difficult to wrap the plastic sleeves around the entire length of the line cluster, particularly since the extremities of a line cluster tend to expand radially. The plastic sleeves suffer from sliding and an inability to stay at the extremities of the flexible lines. Thus, the extremities of the line cluster are often exposed and left unprotected.        Wearing of the lines due to the incomplete protection provided by the plastic sleeves: The thermoplastic band that makes up the protective sleeve may easily come unravelled or be shifted at the ends or at various points along the cluster of flexible lines, which may cause wearing of the lines. It is difficult to ensure that the sleeves do not shift, etc.        Limited protection against the tubes catching on something and pulling apart: When the line cluster snags on a piece of equipment or another object, this plastic sleeve offers very limited resistance to protect the lines themselves from pulling apart, snapping off or being otherwise damaged.        Needs many dimensions in order to adapt to the needs of the market: The single band that makes up the plastic spiral sleeve has limited applicability in wrapping a variety of lines and line clusters, which may present different diameters, lengths, number of lines and combinations thereof. Also, depending on the conditions (temperature, corrosion, pressure, abrasion resistance, strength, etc.) different designs of plastic sleeves may be called for.        
2) Open or Closed Tubular Protective Sleeves
Tubular protective sleeves are used almost exclusively for protecting individual tubes.
Tubular sleeves are often made of thermoplastic material. A line would be inserted into a tubular sleeve prior to its installation in the particular machine. For example, a hydraulic line would be inserted into the tubular sleeve and then be connected to a hydraulic system.
There are also removable tubular sleeves provided with Velcro. These sleeves may be manufactured with thermoplastic or a textile, and are more apt at covering a plurality of lines in a cluster. Brands of these tubular sleeves include TEXWRAP™ and TEXSLEEVE™. Tubular sleeves provided with Velcro offer limited usefulness in the forestry industry and other heavy industries involving large, dynamic equipment because they are too fragile, tending to come undone when machines are operating. They also detach and open easily and do not offer the desired support or protection.
Another kind of tubular sleeve is provided with an accordion type configuration. This sleeve suffers from a variety of disadvantages that would be known to a person skilled in the art.
Other tubular sleeves have also been proposed but their intrinsic value has been said to be inferior to that of the spiral protector 1) discussed hereinabove.
3) Chain and Bracelet
Chain and bracelet protectors for regrouping flexible lines are not commercialized by manufacturers. These devices are used by certain dissatisfied technicians who do not wish to use the products currently on the market. In the forestry industry for instance, a lumber cutting machine may be provided with a cluster of lines which are grouped together by a chain and bracelet system. Numerous bracelets are looped around the cluster at various points along its length and the chain is secured to each bracelet loop at to the arm or boom of the lumber cutting device to regroup and hold the line cluster in a more or less secured position. Chain and bracelet products for protecting hydraulic lines are almost non existent but certain users rely on this method for certain applications when there is a greater risk of the flexible lines being pulled or stretched. The chain and bracelet arrangement enables the lines to be grouped together and also provides a certain resistance to stretching and pulling. However, this technique is plagued with numerous disadvantages. For example, it is difficult for the chain to follow the curvatures of the line cluster, unless the bracelets are used in great number and tightly linking the chain to the cluster. Also, the metal chain may wear the lines. The weight of the chain and bracelet device may also be so elevated as to surpass the total weight of the cluster of lines, which is problematic. Furthermore, much of the lines are exposed to the environment and thus left unprotected. Another disadvantage is due to the presence of metallic components that cause wearing of the lines, particularly when the metallic chain contacts the lines transversely. Both mechanical and aesthetic aspects of the chain and bracelet technique present a multitude of disadvantages that give rise to a need for developing a new product that would overcome some of these disadvantages.
Other Sleeves and Fastening Devices
Also found in the art is a spiral sleeve tape known as SHILTAPE™, which is manufactured with knitted fibreglass coated with resistant silicone rubber. This sleeve is made up of a single band with an adhesive side, the band being spirally wrapped around a hose to cover and protect it.
Furthermore, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/149,462 (ATKINSON et al.) having the publication No. 2003/0079790 A1, describes a flexible protective sleeve covering one or more lines. This sleeve includes a supporting layer formed from a strip which is wrapped like a helix around the line while having gaps between each successive helical loop. The sleeve also includes a bridging layer which covers the helical layer and “bridges” the gaps. The bridging layer is composed of a flexible material which is secured to the helical layer, for example by adhesive (paragraph [0028]) to allow the bridged gap to accommodate deformations of the sleeve.
In addition, the patent literature contains a variety of protective and/or adjustable sleeves and regrouping bands, for instance U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,601,863, 3,616,123, 4,788,089, 4,893,381, 4,920,235, 4,929,478, 5,075,934, 5,524,327, 6,051,291, 6,309,721, 6,635,825, 6,842,948 and 6,878,873, as well as U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 09/388,752, 09/871,755, 10/258,576, 10/465,162, 10/749,430 and 10/635,671.
It may be said that the problems and disadvantages of the prior art of protective sleeves and installation methods thereof are well known in the art and there is a need for a product and method that overcome at least some of these problems and disadvantages.